Why the GOP loves Ryan's 'deceiving' speech

8/30/12 2:48 PM EDT

TAMPA, Fla. -- Debate over the factual accuracy of Paul Ryan's speech last night is driving the day here in Tampa.

Democrats, fact-checking organizations, and various journalists, including one Fox News contributor, are calling attention to a number of factual inaccuracies in Ryan's speech: chiefly, his assertion that President Obama was responsible for the closing of a GM plant that actually closed before he became president.

Sally Kohn, the Fox News contributor, slammed Ryan's convention speech as "deceiving," charging the congressman with trying "to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech." On MSNBC last night, liberal primetime hosts Ed Schultz and Al Sharpton went on the offensive against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker for standing by Ryan's remarks. Against the political efficacy of the speech -- it was widely viewed as the best so far -- a counternarrative emerged.

The question, TPM's Josh Marshall asked, was "whether that lying thing breaks through into its own issue, as something reporters who are afraid of getting smacked around by campaigns are actually willing or feel they need to discuss."

The problem with "the lying thing" is that, technically speaking, Ryan's statement about the plant was true -- even if misleading.

"Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: 'I believe that if our government is there to support you, this plant will be here for another hundred years,' That's what he said in 2008," Ryan said last night. "Well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day."

Ryan's tactic -- attack by assertion rather than accusation -- has been employed by other Republicans throughout the convention. On night one, Rick Santorum attacked President Obama for waiving the welfare work requirment (which he has not done) without actually accusing him of doing so. Deceiving, misleading, unfair? Yes. False? No.

So too for Ryan's statement about the GM plant. CNN's verdict summed it up perfectly: "True, but incomplete."

The problem for Democrats is that no matter what the factual accuracy of the statement, the conversation now is about whether or not President Obama closed a GM plant. The Romney campaign loves this debate the way the Obama campaign loved the debates over when Romney left Bain Capital, how many people he did or did not fire, and whether or not he was responsible for that woman's death.